Palmieri
Palmieri v. Cal. State Pers. Bd.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Duarte, J.
*848 Plaintiff Pamela J. Palmieri--an attorney hired by real party in interest California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (Department) in part to conduct disciplinary cases against prison guards--was herself terminated for misconduct. After a 21-day hearing, she was found culpable of four counts of misconduct, one of which was her discourtesy and dishonesty to an administrative law judge (ALJ) after she was taken to task for her tardiness. She appealed her dismissal to the State Personnel Board (Board) which ultimately upheld her termination. The trial court denied her mandamus petition to overturn her dismissal, and she timely appealed. We shall affirm the judgment.
*849 BACKGROUND
We largely take the following procedural background and sketch of the facts from the trial court's thorough written decision denying Palmieri's mandamus petition.
A. Procedural Facts
After a 25-year career in private practice, Palmieri began working for the Department in 2007. Her job consisted of prosecution of employee discipline cases. She was served with a notice of dismissal on December 13, 2010, and appealed to the Board. Because some of the Board's own ALJs were potential…